Assistant Sustainability Manager

Job Description

Under the direction of the Sr. Sustainability Manager, the Assistant Manager will assist in identifying and implementing innovative practices and policies to optimize service delivery and position the City to tackle ongoing growth, environmental, social and economic challenges. Reporting directly to the Sr. Manager, the Assistant Manager will assist in representing the Office and city wide projects to City Council, City Manager’s Office, the City’s Leadership Team, departments, and community partners as assigned by Sr. Manager. The Assistant Manager will provide vision and leadership in the managing of 3 or more full time employees, various technical contractors and Community Based Organization (CBO) partnerships, 4 or more annual fellows, annual cohorts of 15 or more Community Climate Interns spread throughout departments, as well as serving as a direct liaison and partner to the City’s Bloomberg iteam 3 full time staff. This position will serve in key leadership roles to help support various citywide initiatives and City Council appointed boards and commissions, including the City of Raleigh Strategic Plan Core Teams, Environmental Advisory Board, and other citywide and regional initiatives.

Our ideal candidate is a creative problem solver, a fast learner, and a strong communicator. They should have experience building consensus with competing groups to yield a healthy and positive set of outcomes. This person should be a highly motivated, results oriented individual to maintain and continuously improve the Office’s operational and financial performance. This person should be detail oriented; while also highly flexible and able to lead teams and community partners through highly complex and ever changing projects.

The position is a challenging opportunity for candidates to lead through innovation, collaboration, partnership, and a strong customer service focus. Qualified candidates will clearly exemplify the Citys organizational values of responsiveness, integrity, respect, collaboration, honesty, diversity, stewardship, and initiative. This position oversees and is responsible for Implementation of the Raleigh Community Climate Action Plan, the City’s Climate Action Data Dashboard and Annual Implementation Reports, Sustainability Business Plan, Sustainability Budget, CIP and administration of millions of dollars in grants and Federal funding; the City’s Energy Policy and transformation, Community Transportation Electrification Strategy, Co-leading the City’s Electric Vehicle Strategy, various City Sustainability policies, the creation and oversight of community and city wide high profile projects, including Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities, NOAA Federal grant programs and others as assigned; Leading the Environmental Advisory Board; and implementing the City of Raleigh’s applicable Strategic Plan’s objectives and initiatives. Below is a brief description of these key roles:

• Raleigh’s Community Climate Action Plan (CCAP) was one of the first of its kind nationally to focus on not only greenhouse gas reduction, but also equity, environmental justice, and building community resilience to the impacts of climate change. The CCAP strategies are designed to address high impact climate action community wide and set the foundation for the City to lead the way, creating opportunities and breaking down barriers, to empower the entire community and beyond to take action. The Assistant Manager will be responsible for managing and balancing workloads on key projects that span complex and technical topics community wide. See the annual CCAP Implementation Reports to learn more about the various implementation projects and programs. In partnership with the Director, lead the CCAP Implementation and annual reporting. Will lead the expansion of the CCAP Climate Action Dashboard including growing key partnerships with city departments and community partners.
• Manage and create new project management tools and processes for Business Planning, Budgeting, Capital Improvement Plans (CIP), oversight of the Climate Action Fund, key budget process changes to support climate implementation initiatives, and key grants that Sustainability leads, and also track and play a key role in partner grants with internal and external partners. Design and create processes to streamline finance and grant processes, including reporting, applications, stakeholder engagement, etc.
• Lead staff, in partnership with key stakeholders, in the visioning and strategy for Transportation Electrification for both city fleet and community transition. This involves many process improvements and the creation of new policies, procedures, budgeting, training, education and more. The City has over 4,700+ vehicles and equipment and a goal to transition all vehicles to electric over the next 10 years. The City is also strategically looking for Public Private Partnership opportunities and key equity strategies to ensure that everyone in Raleigh has access to clean transportation.
• Lead staff, in partnership with key stakeholders, in the visioning and strategy for the City’s energy management, renewable energy and solar programs. This involves building on existing pilots for community facing solar expansion, affordable housing pilots for sustainability features, low-income solar pilots, etc. This also involves the creation of City policy and procedures for energy and renewables including building out our energy data tracking program, and representing the office in key City projects.
• Support the Director in creating the vision and oversight for key programs, including management and oversight of staff and project managers (Sustainability staff and key partner department staff) on key projects and programs to include the Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities, the Climate Education for a Resilient Raleigh NOAA Grant, key American Recovery Act projects and other key grants and initiatives/pilots, implementation of various CCAP projects, etc.
• The Office of Sustainability is the staff liaison to the City’s Environmental Advisory Board (EAB). This entails managing and planning the EAB’s annual work plan, annual reports, the Raleigh Environmental Awards, monthly public meetings, coordinating with the EAB Board Chairs, and various other supporting tasks, including the planning and management of highly technical and complex topics led by other key city departmental partners, issues relating to public laws, coordination with staff liaisons and other Boards and Commissions and City Council.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Oversee and provide direct staff supervision, including conducting performance evaluations, coordinating training, and implementing hiring, discipline, and termination procedures.
• Assist the Director in planning, managing, and administering the operations, project management and delivery of all projects within the Office.
• Assist the Director in representing the City of Raleigh and the Office of Sustainability to internal and outside agencies and organizations.
• Prepares agenda items and represents the Office before City Council as assigned by the Director.
• Serve as the Sustainability representative and advisor as assigned by Director to management, City officials, boards, commissions, interdepartmental teams, outside agencies, the public, and/or other Executive functions, attend and facilitate meetings.
• Leads and consults with a diverse group of stakeholders including the State Utilities Commission, other governmental entities, development partners, funders and community residents.
• Coordinate and provide oversight of the implementation of Office, City and community wide programs and activities; participate in policy development; strive to align city operations and policy with Community wide Climate Action strategies and the overall City’s strategic plans, mission, vision, and values.
• Guide, review, and approve work provided by staff, contracted services, and internal and external stakeholders; monitor service quality and compliance with applicable regulations, standards, codes, policies, and/or business requirements; manage operational risk; identify and implement process improvements for the optimization of resources and the effective delivery of high quality services.
• Provide technical guidance; monitor and evaluate projects and processes; perform research of specialized and technical information; analyze and resolve complex and sensitive issues; handle escalated customer service concerns; and create, negotiate, and implement initiatives and solutions.
• Develop and deliver presentations, prepare and/or oversee the preparation, maintenance, and/or distribution of correspondence, reports, documents, system information, and other related communication material.
• Attend community meetings and addresses constituent requests and concerns in a way that demonstrates responsiveness and trust.
• Oversee and participate in the analysis, development, and administration of assigned budgets; monitor and approve expenditures and budget compliance and recommend adjustments; including the oversight of grants, federal funds and community-based programs and budgets.
• Implement the City’s strategic objectives and departmental strategic priorities and develop the annual business plan in coordination with the fiscal team and Director.

Typical Qualifications

Education and Experience:
Bachelors degree in sustainability, engineering, energy, finance, business, human resources, public administration or directly related field, AND six years of professional experience which includes two years of supervisory experience.

OR

An equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the job such as those listed above, unless otherwise subject to any other requirements set forth in law or regulation.

Preferred Education and Experience:
Master’s Degree in related field preferred. At least 2 years of supervisory and management experience in a relevant field with supervisory experience of technical staff.

Preferred Licensing and Certifications:
LEED, Energy, Transportation and/or Green Infrastructure Certifications, Equity Certifications, Project Management, LEAN Six Sigma or other related qualifications

Additional Information

Additional Information

Knowledge Of:

• Supervisory principles, practices, and techniques.
• Practices and methods of coaching and leading the work of others.
• Problem solver, innovator, and consensus builder.
• Public speaking and presentations.
• Authoring and editing complex reports, documents, and presentations.
• Principles and practices of program administration and management.
• Best practices, trends, and emerging technologies.
• Principles and applications of critical thinking and analysis.
• Principles and practices of annual operating budgeting and fiscal management; contract administration; working knowledge of fund accounting.
• Exercising political acumen.
• Principles and practices of intergovernmental relations and customer service.
• Principles and practices of strategic planning.
• Partnership development and implementation
• Community engagement strategies, means, and methods.
• Knowledge of Federal, State, and local granting agency funding processes.

• Coordinating deadlines, prioritizing work demands, and monitoring technical operations. Providing project management, organization, and logistics coordination.
• Managing project finances.
• Monitoring, evaluating and assessing projects, and functional operations.
• Researching technical issues and articulating recommendations.
• Monitoring compliance with applicable plans, standards, regulations and contracts.
• Providing customer service and consultation, serving as a liaison, and subject matter expert.
• Utilizing communication and interpersonal skills as applied to interaction with coworkers, supervisors, the general public and others to sufficiently exchange or convey information and to receive work direction.